US to ensure PKK/YPG not threat in Syria safe zone: US envoy

WASHINGTON- Anadolu Agency

Washington will work with Ankara to ensure the PKK/YPG do not create a threat to Turkey in the establishment of a safe zone in Syria next to the Turkish border, the U.S. special envoy to Syria said on April 15.

James Jeffrey said Washington acknowledges the security concerns Turkey has with the withdrawal of American troops first announced in December by U.S. President Donald Trump.       

The special envoy made a similar statement last month with the establishment of a safe zone along the Turkish-Syrian border, where YPG forces, the Syrian affiliate of the illegal PKK, would be withdrawn from so that they do not pose a security risk to Turkey. PKK is listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

"And we would work with Turkey to ensure that that zone remains free of any threat to Turkey and introduces stability," Jeffrey said at a conference on American-Turkish relations in Washington.       

Since Washington declared the pullout of American troops, Turkey has been warning of the power vacuum it could create in the region.       

"The United States also has its own security concerns, including with the people that we fought with against Daesh, and working us a way forward is something that we're very intensively doing right now," Jeffrey said, using another acronym for the ISIL.       

"We have a very strong partner in Turkey in this conflict," he added.